{"id":4634,"date":"2017-03-28T19:58:44","date_gmt":"2017-03-28T19:58:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.itselementary.com\/blog\/?p=4634"},"modified":"2017-03-28T19:58:44","modified_gmt":"2017-03-28T19:58:44","slug":"elementary-school-volunteer-appreciation-ideas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.itselementary.com\/blog\/2017\/03\/elementary-school-volunteer-appreciation-ideas\/","title":{"rendered":"Elementary School Volunteer Appreciation Ideas"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>April is National Volunteer Appreciation Month, so it\u2019s the perfect time to recognize all the classroom parents and other volunteers who make a difference in your elementary school. Here are some easy school volunteer appreciation ideas to help you say \u201cThank You\u201d for all their hard work.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Volunteer Awards Night<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Give your volunteers the red carpet treatment with a special Awards Night just for them. Here\u2019s how:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em><strong>Roll out the red carpet!<\/strong> <\/em>Create a grand entrance with a red carpet <a href=\"http:\/\/www.itselementary.com\/special-events\/movie-night\/sidewalk-runner\" target=\"_blank\">sidewalk runner<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><em><strong>Create a Walk of Fame!<\/strong> <\/em>Write each volunteer\u2019s name on a cut out gold star and display the stars on a wall or tabletop.<\/li>\n<li><strong><em>Give \u2018em some swag!<\/em><\/strong> Create swag bags filled with fun stuff for your volunteers, like gift cards, phone <a href=\"http:\/\/www.itselementary.com\/teacher-appreciation-gifts\/electronics\" target=\"_blank\">chargers<\/a>, imprinted <a href=\"http:\/\/www.itselementary.com\/teacher-appreciation-gifts\/drinkware\" target=\"_blank\">mugs<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.itselementary.com\/special-events\/candy-buffets\" target=\"_blank\">candy<\/a>, and more<\/li>\n<li><em><strong>Present awards!<\/strong><\/em> Call each volunteer up to the \u201cstage\u201d and present him or her with appreciation awards, like <a href=\"http:\/\/www.itselementary.com\/teacher-appreciation-gifts\/sets\" target=\"_blank\">gift sets<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.itselementary.com\/student-awards\/award-pins\" target=\"_blank\">award pins<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.itselementary.com\/teacher-appreciation-gifts\/bags-and-totes\" target=\"_blank\">tote bags<\/a>, and more.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Food Events For Volunteers<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-3860\" src=\"http:\/\/www.itselementary.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Teachers-Lounge-300x123.jpg\" alt=\"Andersons Elementary Volunteer Appreciation Lounge Kit\" width=\"371\" height=\"152\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.itselementary.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Teachers-Lounge-300x123.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.itselementary.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Teachers-Lounge.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 371px) 100vw, 371px\" \/><br \/>\n<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Express your thanks for your school volunteers with fun food events throughout the year. Whether you go casual or fancy, food events are great ways to bring volunteers together and show your appreciation for the contributions they make to your school. Here are some fun, food-related volunteer appreciation ideas to try:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em><strong>Volunteer Breakfast:<\/strong><\/em> Choose a school-day morning (or a few different days to accommodate all volunteers\u2019 schedules) and bring in pastries, breakfast sandwiches, fruit, juice, and coffee for your volunteers to enjoy.<\/li>\n<li><em><strong>Lunch Break:<\/strong><\/em> Purchase appreciation <a href=\"http:\/\/www.itselementary.com\/school-supplies\/bags-and-backpacks\/custom-bags-and-backpacks\" target=\"_blank\">lunch bags<\/a>, fill them with standard bag lunch fare, and hand them out to school volunteers at lunch time.<\/li>\n<li><em><strong>Dinner Banquet:<\/strong><\/em> Host a formal dinner for your volunteers. Either have it catered or ask teachers and staff members to help serve.<\/li>\n<li><em><strong>Dessert Extravaganza:<\/strong><\/em> Have staff members bake luscious desserts or purchase some from a local bakery. Set them up for your volunteers to enjoy all day long.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.itselementary.com\/special-events\/banners-and-signage\/banners\/custom-paper-banner\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-4611\" src=\"http:\/\/www.itselementary.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Appreciation_Banner-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"AndersonsItsElementary_Volunteer_Appreciation_Banner\" width=\"331\" height=\"331\" \/><\/a>Banners and Posters<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Get the whole school involved in volunteer appreciation events by having each classroom create a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.itselementary.com\/school-supplies\/banners-and-signs\" target=\"_blank\">banner<\/a> or poster to thank their classroom parents and volunteers. Display the signs in a common area, so your volunteers can see how much they are loved and appreciated.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Make Volunteer Appreciation\u00a0Personal<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>However you honor your elementary school volunteers, personal touches really make a difference. Be sure to hand write a personal note for each volunteer \u2013 or have students create special cards \u2013 or acknowledge each volunteer individually at your awards ceremony to make the recognition more meaningful.<\/p>\n<p>Whether you recognize your school\u2019s volunteers during National Volunteer Appreciation Week or throughout the year, they will love definitely be feeling the love when you use these volunteer appreciation ideas to recognize them for everything they do for your school.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>April is National Volunteer Appreciation Month, so it\u2019s the perfect time to recognize all the classroom parents and other volunteers<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,9],"tags":[591,199,590,589],"class_list":["post-4634","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-elementary-school","category-featured","tag-classroom-volunteer-recognition-ideas","tag-elementary-school-ideas","tag-elementary-school-volunteer-awards","tag-school-volunteer-appreciation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itselementary.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4634"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itselementary.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itselementary.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itselementary.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itselementary.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4634"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.itselementary.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4634\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4639,"href":"https:\/\/www.itselementary.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4634\/revisions\/4639"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itselementary.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4634"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itselementary.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4634"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itselementary.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4634"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}